Step conveyors and methods of the type stated initially are known, for example, from the documents DE 10 2004 012 133 A1 and EP 1 652 799 A1.
The known step conveyors have the disadvantage, on the basis of the low step height, that they are not able to convey piece goods upward, and if they are lying on the contact surface, no edge projecting at least approximately perpendicular from the contact surface can lie against the conveying step. This particularly applies to cylindrical piece goods, such as bottles or cylindrical cans, for example.